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MAY DAZED - A Collaborative Cinquain Sequence

 

May Dazed - A Collaborative Cinquain Sequence composed by the CinquainPoets online writing community and edited by Deborah P Kolodji, the CinquainPoets moderator (available at: CinquainPoets mailing list forum); cover art by Gary Blankenship: published in June 2005 by LuLu Enterprises, Inc., 3131 RDU Center, Suite 210, Morrisville, NC 27560, $9.95 plus s/h., Order at: http://www.lulu.com/content/131743

 

Waiting,

two young mothers

at the Ocean Street Stop—

no school bus in sight, just circling

seagulls.

 

—Deborah P. Kolodji (#67, p. 31)

 

What can happen when you get fourteen poets together? If you're a member of Deborah P. Kolodji's CinquainPoets online community mailing list forum, quite a bit: one-thousand-and-sixty lines of poetry equaling two-hundred-and-twelve cinquains! If you're not familiar with this genre, the editor's introduction provides straightforward guidelines. Basically, the American form of the cinquain is composed of five lines with a distinct syllable count of 2-4-6-8-2.

If you love the resonance and deceptive simplicity of short-verse, this collaborative cinquain sequence on the theme "May Dazed", will take you on a journey that extends well beyond the month of May. There are cinquains that focus on love, romance, and motherhood, as well as those that explore nature and the universe beyond this planet we call home. Are you fascinated by the art of aging?  Death?  Visitations?  Amidst the serious poems, there are also quite a few quirky and humorous looks at the nature of existence. This book is appropriately dedicated to the Grande Dame of the American Cinquain, Adelaide Crapsey (1878-1914), who is touted for the development of the American cinquain form. If Ms. Crapsey were alive today, I wouldn't be surprised to see her posting regularly to the CinquainPoets forum!

—semi (Terrie Leigh Relf) San Diego, CA, US

 

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